Why Zimbabwe Is Claiming to be 5th Largest Economy in SADC
Zimbabwe is now ranked as the fifth-largest economy in Southern Africa, following a significant upward revision of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to include informal sector activities and new businesses that emerged after 2019.
According to the 2023 Economic Census by Zimstat, the country’s GDP has been revised from ZiG133.7 trillion (US$35.2 billion) to ZiG168.5 trillion (US$44.4 billion). This massive leap reflects previously overlooked economic activity, especially from small informal businesses and newer players in the economy that were operating under the radar.
Economists refer to this process as “rebasing”; essentially, updating how GDP is calculated so it better reflects the true scale and structure of a modern economy. In Zimbabwe’s case, it has helped reveal years of “silent growth” that had gone unnoticed in official records.
The revision places Zimbabwe just behind South Africa (US$400 billion), Angola (US$115 billion), Tanzania (US$80 billion), and the DRC (US$71 billion) in SADC’s economic rankings, based on 2024 IMF data. That makes Zimbabwe number five out of the 16 member states.
Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the new numbers reflect the reality on the ground: much of Zimbabwe’s economy was already growing, just not being properly tracked.
He acknowledged the informality of many businesses made it difficult to capture their full impact, but insisted this is just the beginning of more accurate reporting.
“There is a part of the economy that was not accounted for; this now captures that segment, which has been growing silently. But it is not being properly accounted for. We still believe that there is a lot that was left out because of the informality aspect, so we need to keep refining our methodology”.
GDP measures how much value a country creates in goods and services. A growing GDP can lead to more jobs, stronger public services, and better infrastructure, though it doesn’t always mean every citizen feels richer overnight.
Minister Ncube said the revision doesn’t change how the government will spend money in the short term, but it does give Zimbabwe a bigger tax base and more flexibility to invest in the future.
Ncube also took the opportunity to push back against concerns over national debt, insisting Zimbabwe doesn’t have a debt crisis, just a cash flow problem. With a larger GDP base, the country can better position itself to begin paying off external debts and improve its credit standing.
He also promised efforts to tackle inequality, admitting it’s a stubborn issue but saying the government is addressing it through progressive taxation and social protection programs.
“We have inequality, it is never easy to deal with inequality, but the way you deal with inequality is to try to use the taxation system, the rich pay more than the poorer income class. Also use different ways, such as social protection programmes, to uplift those who are at the bottom of the pyramid,” Ncube said.
Alongside the GDP revision, Zimbabwe’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, a measure of average income per citizen, rose from US$2,259 to US$2,859 in 2023 and is projected to top US$3,000 by 2025.
Follow Us on Google News for Immediate Updates
The post Why Zimbabwe Is Claiming to be 5th Largest Economy in SADC appeared first on iHarare News.
